Providing freedom: Right to information a basic right of citizens

KARACHI: Right to information (RTI) is not only the need of politicians and media, but it is the collective need of everyone and is the basic right of citizens, said the chief minister’s information adviser Maula Bux Chandio at a seminar on Tuesday.

Addressing the audience at ‘Sindh Right to Information Bill’ seminar organised by the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Chandio said corrupt elements will be accountable to the public after the assembly passes the RTI bill.

Chandio, who claims to be the biggest supporter of the bill, assured the CPNE that they will certainly adopt their input into the bill. He believes that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz should be appreciated for passing the bill in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and Punjab. However, he emphasised that the accountability of every institution should be done and not just of a single party or an institution.

On the occasion, CPNE president Mujeebur Rehman Shami presented the draft bill’s copy to leaders of the different parties. Shami was of the opinion that it must be the duty of every citizen to protect the Constitution of Pakistan and RTI is a small part of it.

According to education and parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Khuhro, Sindh Assembly is the only assembly that allows live coverage of sessions, which he believes is the right of every citizen. Assuring CPNE members that they were never against the bill, Khuhro said they want to make a perfect draft.